Working with our international and local partners. AmeriCares sends aid shipments that include essential medicines – from eye drops to cure eye infections to specialized heart medicines. We have provided support for health care access in the large refugee population with a focus on primary health needs, nutritional support and on treatment and prevention of cholera.

Snapshot of Kenya:

Kenya is among the more stable nations in sub-Saharan Africa, in spite of the civil unrest from the economic and political crises of the past decade. Life expectancy is comparatively high 63 years, but health care resources are extremely limited and unable to cope with major refugee flows. The country is home to the Dadaab refugee camps, the largest “tent city” in the world with a population swelling to more than 450,000 people during the 2011 Horn of Africa drought and famine. Critical health issues:

• Severe poverty, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS
• Malaria and diarrheal disease, including cholera

Since 2007, AmeriCares has delivered medical aid and humanitarian relief to Kenya, through a partnership with the International Medical Corps.

AmeriCares delivers regular shipments of lifesaving medicines and medical supplies to the city of Kisumu through a partnership with the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI), a project of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. Despite its potential for growth and development, the third largest city in the country has one of the highest poverty levels and its health system struggles to deliver health care to the city's 500,000 residents.

Recent aid has targeted the refugee population in the Dadaab refugee complex. View images of our work in Somalia and Kenya.

In 2011, to ease the profound human suffering caused by catastrophic famine in the Horn of Africa, AmeriCares large scale emergency response included ongoing shipments of medicines, supplies, and nutritional supplements, to help children and adults in refugee camps in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

In 2007, Kenya's disputed presidential elections set off violent political and social protests throughout the country, resulting in a major humanitarian crisis. This upheaval resulted in more than 1,200 deaths and displaced 300,000 people from their homes, most seeking refuge in temporary camps. AmeriCares sent 54,000 pounds of medicines and medical supplies within two weeks of the initial protests for distribution in refugee camps by our partner the International Medical Corps (IMC).

AmeriCares also donates medical products to qualified U.S. health care professionals who are traveling to Kenya to provide charitable medical care. Through this program, donated medicines and medical supplies reach impoverished and isolated communities where even basic medical care is inaccessible to the poor or often non-existent. AmeriCares donations cure infections, relieve pain, help patients manage chronic diseases and make life-changing surgeries possible.

Find out more about our Medical Outreach program